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Entrepreneur comes back from the brink

Oliver To

The Asian financial crisis almost spelled the end for Alain Yip's company but he and his wife persevered

Most Hong Kong business owners still have painful memories of the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

One of them is Alain Yip whose bridal services business almost collapsed as a result of the crisis.

Mr Yip is the founder of Modern Classic, which provides a comprehensive range of bridal services, including wedding photos, bridal makeup and wedding planning.

The fallout from the financial crisis, combined with couples preferring wedding fairs to obtain bridal services, forced Mr Yip to close three retail outlets in Causeway Bay, Sha Tin and Central from 2000 to 2004.

He is now left with one retail outlet in Tsim Sha Tsui and one bridal studio in Kwai Chung, which is 15,000sqft and manned by 50 staff.

Now, he and his wife and business partner, Annie Liu, a former TVB actress, are confident that if the economy continues to boom, it will not be too long before they can expand again.

Mr Yip, who is a professional photographer and has celebrities and artists as clients, said: 'Our business was very profitable since we opened our first shop in 1979. At the time the company's business focus was not on bridal services but photography for commercial products.'

His business flourished after he switched to bridal services in 1986. The success came thanks to his integrity as a professional photographer, and his close network of connections in show business. However, the turning point came in 1992 when Mr Yip decided to emigrate to Australia because of the political uncertainty surrounding Hong Kong in the run-up to the handover. He left the company in the hands of two marketing consultants.

'Business skyrocketed shortly after we moved to Sydney, so we decided to expand by opening up three more offices from 1992 to 1999. But little did I know that the expansion went too far and too quickly,' he said.

'Unfortunately, the Asian financial turmoil took its toll and we lost most of what we had built.'

When he and his family returned to Hong Kong in early 2000, the business was failing and there was little they could do to rescue it. Gradually, the company shrank from four retail outlets to one.

Mr Yip was tempted to close down the business altogether, but he and his wife decided that it would be irresponsible for them to sack their long-serving employees, especially during the Asian financial crisis when lay-offs were common.

'It was a very painful decision to downsize the company and close the three outlets but we did not have much choice. Through strategic restructuring we let go some staff but retained the ones who had been with us since the start of the business,' Mr Yip said.

Now, Mr Yip believes he has every reason to do better than ever because, this time, he is totally hands-on with the operations of his business, a different management style from what it was in the late 1990s when Mr Yip entrusted his business to the marketing consultants.

Striving for success in business used to be the key objective for Mr Yip, but the ups and downs over the years have changed his views on life and business.

'Instead of being a very aggressive entrepreneur that I once was, I now spend more than 40 per cent of my spare time helping to raise funds for charitable organisations and nurture talent by giving free and paid lectures on photography,' he said.

'From time to time I get invited by non-governmental organisations and commercial organisations to participate in social responsibility activities.'

At this stage in his life, Mr Yip does not see money as his priority. 'I feel I have a mission to help the needy and underprivileged. I derive much pleasure from doing that.'

He recently held a concert, supported by various artists, to raise funds for the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care. 'We managed to raise HK$1 million for the cause,' he said. As a veteran in the bridal service industry, he said that marketing bridal services had changed since 1998 when tradeshows were used to sell products.

Now, more than 60 per cent of his new business is generated from bridal fairs and wedding expos, and the remainder from walk-in customers and referrals.

'The cost of participating in bridal fairs is much less than conventional promotion activities, such as advertising, and we have seen the number of customers grow every year,' he said.

However, Mr Yip sees a drawback to trade fairs because 'customers are now offered many options by a host of companies at these fairs and expos, and that may lead to a price war and bring down the level of service. This is not a good thing for customers'.

But he said price was not a key factor for Hong Kong couples when they selected a bridal service operator.

'Customers take into account quality work, good customer service and reputation of the service provider. For that reason, we hire sales professionals to help our service and sales staff develop top-notch people skills.

'Frontline sales people can make or break the business with a mere difference in their service quality. After all, they are the first impression customers get from my company, so I have to make absolutely sure that they are well-trained and groomed by professionals,' he said.

Other than bridal gown rental and tailoring services, his company offers an array of photographic options ranging from portraits of children, family portraits and personal portraits.

Ten things I know

1 Think before expanding. One should always weigh the risks carefully before taking a big step with business expansion. A slight miscalculation can lead to a business disaster. The experience taught me that an in-depth market study could help avoid potential trouble later.

2 Be honest with your customers. Never deceive with gimmicks to make quick money. Customers are not fools and once they find out these gimmicks are nothing more than just swindles, they will never come back.

3 Know the market inside and out. Make sure to keep your eyes and ears open and conduct surveys. By not understanding your customers' needs you risk losing market share.

4 Understand your strengths and use the best attributes of your business partners. Part of the reason why my business flopped was due to my lack of business vision, and I underused the strengths of my wife who is also my business partner. Things have changed. I now exclusively take care of the creative part and my wife strictly focuses on administration, marketing and finance management. And it works beautifully.

5 Ensure you have happy staff. My business will never flourish if I have a team of unhappy people. I always encourage my staff to talk openly with me, so that they know their views are not ignored and we work like a family.

6 Do not rely on others to run your business. I relied too much on the two marketing consultants I hired to take care of my business when we emigrated to Australia for eight years. During those years, I was hardly involved in any decision-making process. I now fully realise running a business needs to be very much hands-on.

7 Customer service training is very important in the service industry. Ensure your staff have good people skills to retain existing customers and capture new ones.

8 Find peace of mind and maintain physical well-being. I have been practising meditation for years and I find its calming effect helps clear my mind and regain my energy, especially when I am drained due to a heavy workload.

9 Get involved in charity work. We all, at one time or another, should spare some time to help the needy. I am a true believer of what goes around comes around.

10 Offer staff incentives. I see incentives as absolutely vital in recognising staff performance, and that should apply to everyone in the company because no company can succeed without each individual's contribution.

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